Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Stubbornness (2)
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I was at a complete loss for words in the face of that absurd demand.
To be precise, I had plenty to say, but if I let any of it slip out, my head would probably roll first.
Seoul?
Oseong Hospital?
“Sir, please listen to me carefully. Your condition right now is one that absolutely requires emergency surgery. Your appendix has either already ruptured or is on the verge of doing so. Even at this very moment, inflammation and pus could be spreading through your abdomen. That’s called peritonitis, and if it progresses, it can lead straight to sepsis, putting your life in danger.”
I put on the most desperate, sincere expression I could muster.
“Going all the way to Seoul? Even if we call an ambulance right now, it’ll take at least four hours. No one can guarantee what might happen in that time. Our hospital’s surgery department is more than capable. If you just let us—”
“Huh?!”
The old man cut me off.
“What do you know, you little punk?!”
His voice suddenly boomed.
“You think I don’t see through this? It’s all a scheme to keep patients in a backwater dump like this hospital with no real skills and squeeze money out of them!”
He jabbed his finger at me, laying into me.
“I’m buddies with the director of Oseong Hospital! Yeah! We hit the saunas together! We do everything! The head of their surgery department is my friend! I say I’m getting surgery there, so who the hell are you to stand in my way?!”
“Sir, this isn’t about money—it’s about your life right now—”
“Doctor? What kind of doctor are you, some ER hack? You guys just hand out cold meds and stick ass shots in people! A real doctor’s the one who cuts bellies open! The one who wields the knife! What do you know?!”
…
[System: Han Hyun-jae has entered Deep Rage Mode]
“Sir, this—”
“What? What are you gonna do about it?”
The old man shot back with a sneer.
Right then, a savior—or maybe a devil—appeared.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
It was Lee Min-jae.
He must’ve been coming back from checking another patient, frowning at the commotion as he approached.
Lee Min-jae. With this hothead, maybe we could turn this around somehow.
He might be more effective against this unreasonable old geezer than I was.
I stepped back and briefed him on the situation.
“Doc, CT shows suspected perforated appendicitis with peri-appendiceal abscess. Hartmann’s solution one liter in, needs emergency surgery, but the patient’s refusing here and insisting on transfer to Oseong Hospital in Seoul, so he’s digging in for AMA.”
Lee Min-jae’s face hardened instantly as he listened.
He quickly scanned the chart and checked the CT images.
Then, with a much deeper sigh than mine, he turned to the old man.
His expression screamed, *Fuck, night shift’s a nightmare today.*
Lee Min-jae started his persuasion.
“Sir, your gut right now is basically like a shit bomb went off inside. In simple terms, it’s a ticking time bomb. No telling when it’ll blow.”
“W-what? Shit?”
“Yeah. When the appendix ruptures, all the stool and bacteria inside spread throughout the abdomen. That’s peritonitis. If we don’t cut out the ruptured part and wash your insides clean right now, those bugs ride your bloodstream everywhere and boom—sepsis. You die.”
He put heavy emphasis on *die*.
“Seoul? Oseong? Sure, best hospital in Korea. But Dad, if you go into shock or your heart stops in that ambulance ride to Seoul, you croak right there on the street. You won’t even make it through Oseong’s ER doors before you’re headed to the afterlife. No matter how good their docs are, they can’t revive a corpse.”
Lee Min-jae stepped closer.
“You think I’m bullshitting you? This is your life. Get surgery here, survive, recover, then go enjoy VIP treatment at Oseong later. Or throw your tantrum now and end up some nameless corpse on the road to Seoul. Your call, sir.”
Wasn’t that against ethics rules?
Anyway, Lee Min-jae was basically strong-arming the guy.
Not exactly doctorly, but he must’ve figured normal persuasion wasn’t cutting it.
But the old man didn’t budge.
If anything, he dug in harder.
“Shut up! What do you know?! It’s all rigged, like a stacked go-stop game! You’re all trying to force surgery here and rip me off!”
I sank into deep helplessness watching it all.
I desperately hoped Lee Min-jae’s rough tactics would get through to this pigheaded old man.
He just kept parroting like a broken record: *I know my own body, can’t trust quacks like you.*
Time dragged on.
The patient’s life and our patience were both running out.
Right then, a new hero arrived like a true savior.
“Oh, General Surgery’s here.”
I turned at Lee Min-jae’s words to see a doctor in green scrubs hurrying over.
It was Jo Jae-sin, the third-year surgery resident on call—we’d put in the consult via EMR ahead of time.
Didn’t expect him this fast.
He must’ve grasped how critical the patient was and rushed down.
“What’s the holdup? Chart says this guy needs to go straight to the OR—why’s he still here?”
Jo Jae-sin glanced between us and the patient.
“Yeah, uh, you’re the surgery doc who got the page, right?”
Lee Min-jae approached him first.
“Yeah, yeah. Shouldn’t we be wheeling this patient up now? Prof’s on his way in—should be here in about five minutes.”
Jo Jae-sin clearly assumed the patient was prepped for surgery.
Reality was the opposite.
“What the hell are you?! Who asked you to butt in?!”
The old man spotted Jo Jae-sin and unleashed fresh fury like he’d found a new target.
Jo Jae-sin looked at me, utterly baffled.
“Uh… well… the patient’s refusing and insisting on DAMA right now.”
“What? DAMA? In this condition? Why?”
Jo Jae-sin’s voice rose in disbelief.
“He… wants to go to a hospital in Seoul instead of ours. Oseong Hospital.”
“Seoul? With his belly like that?”
“Yeah… uh… maybe talk to him yourself.”
Lee Min-jae nodded toward the patient, passing the baton.
And so, with the surgery resident joining in, three doctors launched another desperate battle to convince one shit-stubborn patient.
Jo Jae-sin explained calmly from a surgeon’s perspective: the terror of peritonitis if the appendix burst, the deadly consequences of delaying surgery.
But the old man’s ears were sealed shut.
He just kept repeating: *You’re all in cahoots. Trying to scare me into paying up.*
Deep helplessness washed over me as I watched, and I pulled up the blue window.
Maybe there was some miracle fix for this insane mess.
[Ruined Doctors Gallery]
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[EMERGENCY FUCKING ALERT] HOW DO WE SAVE THIS GUYS SERIOUSLY URGENT PLS HELP
Posted by: HellJoseonSlave1
Dealing with perforated appy patient trying DAMA rn
Any way to stop it?
Patient’s stubborn af. Insisting on Oseong in Seoul.
If we let him go like this it’s legit a free pass to the afterlife.
Any tricks to admit him?
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The gallery took my desperate plea in an unexpected direction.
[Comments]
Anon (210.94): How the hell’s a doc supposed to stop DAMA? Patient’s will is final. Just get him to sign the “not our fault if shit hits the fan” form and you’re done.
ㄴ LatteIsJustWords: Bitter but true. Docs aren’t gods. No duty to save someone thrashing to kill themselves.
HippocratesHeir: No! A true doctor fights to persuade till the end! We must find a way to save this stubborn soul!
Anon (118.235): Didn’t something go down at the conference? Nobody swap cards with that guy?
Oh.
Right. Prof. Kim Hyuk-jae.
ㄴ HellJoseonSlave1: Got his number but calling this late sounds like begging to get blocked.
ㄴ Anon (118.235): Worst case you’re no worse off. If their chief says a word to the patient, might sway him?
ㄴ HippocratesHeir: Oh ho! Brilliant idea! Direct line to the boss to resolve the crisis!
ㄴ HellJoseonSlave1: Calling another hospital’s chief at this hour tho?;
ㄴ GodsScalpel: Quit hesitating. That shitty social game of yours is for moments like this. Think of it as me pre-ruining your social skills for this exact purpose. Go go.
You little shit.
But damn if it didn’t convince me.
This might actually work.
Meanwhile, the commotion over there was still going strong.
“Call it delirium from septic condition and get guardian consent for straight OR, or just DAMA and let him go.”
“Hey, Doc, calm down a bit—let’s try persuading a little more. He could really crash on the road…”
“Ha….”
Lee Min-jae let out a deep sigh.
“Fine. ER shaman Hyun-jae, you take point and keep grinding. If it works, great. If not, get the DAMA form signed and send him off.”
Lee Min-jae headed back to the station.
I… well, needed a corner at the station to make the call.
On the way back, Lee Min-jae asked,
“Antibiotics in? Suspected perf means broad-spectrum first, obviously.”
“Oh, not yet. Ordering now…”
“Hit it now. Ceftriaxone 2g and metro 500mg. Standard combo. Hurry.”
I plopped at the computer, fumbling to enter the antibiotic orders.
Meanwhile, in the procedure room, Surgery’s Jo Jae-sin was still wrestling with the patient.
His voice was wearing thin.
Jo Jae-sin grabbed a gauze pack nearby, drew an appendix on it with a pen, even mimed it bursting in a last-ditch explanation.
“If this pops—boom!—right here, all those bugs inside spread through your abdomen…”
But the old man wouldn’t even listen.
I fished the crumpled business card of Prof. Kim Hyuk-jae from my pocket.
The cell number scrawled under his name.
Calling the chief of emergency medicine at Korea’s top hospital at this hour.
Insane.
I knew it was batshit crazy, but nothing else came to mind.
The ringtone sounded.
Please pick up.
No, don’t.
Wait, pick up….
On the fourth ring, it connected with a click.
A groggy, irritated middle-aged man’s voice came through.
[…Yeah… hello?]
“Ah…”
I blanked for a second.
He actually picked up.
“Prof. Kim Hyuk-jae? Hello, sir. Sorry to call so late.”
[Wh… who?]
“Han Hyun-jae, second-year EM resident at Cheongjin University Hospital in Busan. From the conference last time…”
[Oh… who? What’d you say? Conference? That Busan kid? But why this late?]
Thank god.
He didn’t remember my name exactly, but vaguely recalled who I was.
I started briefing the situation as concisely as possible.
“Prof, really sorry, but we’ve got a ruptured appendix patient in our ER right now…”
I rattled off the patient’s status, CT findings, and how delaying surgery was deadly—barely pausing for breath.
Then came the point of this mad call.
“But the patient’s refusing surgery here and demanding immediate transfer to Oseong. I was wondering if you could maybe…”
Before I finished, disbelieving laughter erupted from the receiver.
[…So you’re calling me because some guy with a burst appendix at your hospital won’t get cut open, throws a fit to come to ours, and you want *me* to talk him down? Right now? This hour?]
Disbelief dripped from his voice.
“Yes. Sorry.”
I wanted to crawl into a hole.
[…]
Deep silence flowed from the receiver.
[…Crazy bastard, aren’t you.]
He muttered low.
[…Ha. Put him on.]